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CWH2 and DaninAlaska need to tell their wolverine story next.

Having driven an airboat for so many years I can't remember, it took a LOT this summer to learn a jet. I"m always looking for the skinny and avoiding the deep and fast. LOL. Had to just remember to avoid the temptations for skinny and make dang sure I'm in the best water without boulders etc.... I can find. Totally reverse really.

No wolverine stories yet. Though one food box at moose camp was drug off a ways but not opened yet. Teeth sure looked about the right size to my eyes... sure wasn't a bear unless it was mini bear.

Awesome thread! Great stories JeffA, keep them coming. 👍 They make for very enjoyable and very relatable stories that helps alleviate cabin fever.

I’ve loved Alaska as a little boy and we’re building a place (slowly 😁) up there so that we can spend more time in my favorite place on earth.

Thanks, I'm just burning some extra time I happen to find myself having at the moment.

I'm doing a little research before I continue........

https://statelaws.findlaw.com/alaska-law/alaska-criminal-statute-of-limitations-laws.html

Ruh-roh! Tread lightly, eh?

Laffin!

Wintering at that lodge had it's benefits, I had it all to myself for 8 months of the year, and I took advantage of that.

I'd built a winter place for them there on the property and it's where I spent my time.


It was just me and the dog....


It was different, I was living in a silent world and I'd acquired a silent pet, fitting I guess.

I kicked her out one night when I woke up to an odd noise and it appeared she was chewing on one of my bunny boots.
I was pizzed, I picked her up and tossed her out, my AR stayed leaning against the wall beside the door, I grabbed it and emptied a clip sending rounds bouncing all around her as she ran for her life up the beach.

I went to check the damage on the boots and they were fine but I did find a mouse she'd apparently been working on killing right behind my boots. Oh well, it 'd just been my bushy side showing a little...

Took her three days to come home, she'd gotten over it and returned to her cozy nook behind the wood stove.


If I could have gotten her to drag firewood in it'd have been helpful, I had a Lab that'd do that..
She was a fine mouser and I guess that was all I was gonna get out of her.


I'd sold my Bob Marshall based outfitting business down in Montana before I had decided to come hang out in Alaska, so I knew a lot of people that'd like to visit an Alaskan lodge but didn't want to pay the grand a day rates the lodge was getting.

After the lodge guys left for the season I'd invited quite a few "friends" to join me for some fishing, I had the whole lodge to myself so why not. That made for busy Falls, right up to freeze-up you could bang Rainbows, Grayling, Char and Pike in quality form.....with lot's of quality lodge gear.

The lodge owners had a vague idea I might be doing something like that..sorta..I told them I had a couple friends showing up anyway...

The owners were quite pleased with the work I'd get done in their absence, after my first winter it was pretty easy to convince them not to have their crew pull all the boats and winterize the lodge before they left. They were all tired from their summers work and they jumped right on the offer.
I'd take care of everything, all they had to was go. I'm just that kinda guy..all nice and everything.

They just didn't know there might be a time lapse before I'd get that done, the lodge was left 100% operational for the balance of my years there, they'd just take the planes and leave right after "their" last guests were gone....mine would be right around the corner.

I had all the freeze-up and break-up weeks to get things done around the lodge, it's then that I'd built stuff for them, doors, furniture with carved horn and ivory enhancements stuff like that..



That gave me 4 to 5 months in between for trapping and hunting, then it was back into break-up, those brutal times that you couldn't go anywhere.

It'd been a particularly long break-up one year, I'd been stuck there for weeks, we just weren't getting any wind to take the ice off the lakes..
The ice was as rotten as it gets, all that melted snow along with warm rain was slowly percolating it's way down through 3 to 4 feet of ice that just laid there.

Finally a small channel was opening between the shore and the ice, I could get a skiff through for a ways up the lake.


As the slight winds that we started having would blow the ice back and forth this channel was getting wider and longer every day. It was also building an ice berm along the shore where the wind would push the entire ice pack up onto the beach.
The image below I hijacked, the ice we had at that time more closely resembled "ice icicles" fused together from all that percolating water burning down through it and it was still thick. So the berm ice was more like crushed ice cubes piled up than slabs.


I woke one morning to see the winds had shifted and were coming out of the east, they were warm winds.
The channel along the shore had grown and it looked as if I could actually get some where.
I had been preparing for the reopening of the lodge and had put this boat in the water.


I took off blazing up that channel, it was wider in some spots than others but good enough, I needed to get out, I had to shake the cabin fever off.
I made my way two or three miles up the lake and things started changing, the winds had laid down some and the ice pack was closing my channel. The ice was too thick to bust through and options of open channels were becoming more limited moment by moment. I made my way to the shore and sat there for a bit, the ice was coming my way at a rate of maybe a couple inches every five minutes or so. At this rate the ice was going to start pushing me up on shore inside the next 15 minutes. I pointed the boat straight into the ice berm, hit the power trim and got that 65 Evinrude outta the water.

The boat getting pushed up on the ice berm wouldn't be all that bad, I could probably get it back in the water after the ice was gone, things could be worse, I could be on the other side of the lake without the option of walking back to the lodge.
I was in much better shape than Shackleton was with the Endurance but my memories of reading the book did come to mind.

Just before the ice pack was about to touch the boat I changed my mind and lowered the motor. I'd hate to set there and watch the ice build up under it and shear that kicker off the transom in slow motion...decisions, decisions what'da ya do....

Just as the ice hit the boat and started making some noise the winds picked back up, the ice immediately started moving the other way, I could also see from where I was at that about another mile up the lake there was open water.

There was a large berm piling up on the leading edge of the ice pack all the way across the lake, there were also visible waves crashing into it, it looked a little brutal out there but I had the right boat for that.

As the channel became passable I was in it and bookin' for the open water, didn't take too long and I was there.
I'd had to take an opening that took me away from the shore to get there, the waves were doable, I headed across the lake and made my way to a little Pikey slough that was protected from the open lake and winds.

I sat there for a bit and contemplated life...I might have smoked one to chill out a little too.....
About the time I'd achieved 100% mood adjustment I realized there was no wind, it'd laid back down and that meant my channel back on the other side of the lake would be closing. It was my only road home, I was now on the wrong side of the lake for the "walking back" option.
Even if I could get to the other side, I didn't want to leave the boat four miles from home....hell, I didn't really wanna have to walk four miles down that ice filled beach either, you know, there's rock outcrops and crappy spots, it'd suck.

I had to get outta there and fast, it was about a mile and half back to the other side of the lake from where I sat.

I cranked up and took off, as I rolled out of that slough and could see the lake, there was no ice in sight, none, notta single cube, there was no sign there had ever been ice on the lake...it was an eerie feeling.

The whole damn lake had gone off and I missed the event, I ran back down the middle of the lake onstep full speed.
I'd started out cautiously looking for slabs of ice but there was absolute none to be found, a mile and half by four mile chunk of ice had vanished in moments, It was surreal, I was awestruck.

I was also free from the ice that had kept me nailed down in one spot for the last 7 weeks, I could get out again and Spring Bear season was on.....

....more later...

Good stuff Jeff! Very entertaining, you have a good writing style, and the material is very interesting to this desert rat.

"It is the blessing of The Lord that taketh rich & he adds no sorrow to it."

+1.

And very interesting to a guy from the dirty south.

Best thread on the fire in awhile.....

Lets see... we were spring bear hunting, and pulled into the spot we usually anchor up for the night. There is a nice protected spot behind a house-sized island that is only about 50 yards from a rocky shore. Deepish water and the wind can't get you. So, we drop the hook, and as I come back around to the cabin, Dan says "there's something on the island". We gawk for a bit, and sure enough, its a wolverine. It makes a couple runs back and forth on the island, hops in, and starts swimming for shore. We had the raft tied to the boat, and Dan says "Chris, go kill it." So I jump in the raft, and get it untied, start the motor, and Dan hands me.... a [bleep] t-ball bat!

"Give me a gun!"

"Hurry up, its gettng away!"

So, like an idiot, I take off after it with my trusty bat, get about 1/2 way and the motor dies. I had forgotten to turn the gas valve back on, and it burned what was in the carb/line. The wolverine hit the shore, gave a shake, and he was gone. Probably for the best as he would have shredded that thing and I'd have been swimming with a wolverine.

Now I'm curious to hear Dan's version of the story.

That makes two of us!

Make it three!

I am burning down here, THANKS FOR THE POST! I could use some help.

Raft?, Club?, Wolverine? All the ingredients for a great event!

It's our follies, fu_ckups and rare events that can be more interesting to hear.

We've all had them, many here on the Fire are growing old, the wealth of experiences and events is potentially huge!

Come on, take a minute or three and share a little.....

Every Man Should Arrive To The Fire With A Story To Tell

I'd seen a really nice bear the previous Fall, it was one of only two true 10+ft Coastal Brown Bears I've ever seen outside of bears at Katmai Park.
He'd walked right through camp one night, it was late season, all but the dump bears had already gone under or at least it seemed.
The ground around the lodge was always just one huge collage of bear tracks, we had a resident herd, I mean hell, we had an open pit dump.
It wasn't as if these bears didn't already have all the Sockeye they could ever wish for right there in the river, we were feeding them Prime Rib and Spot Prawns, there was ample leftovers and scraps from the gourmet meals that were being prepared every night at the lodge all summer. Everything eventually ended up in that open pit dump.

This Bears track stood out in a big way, like twice the size of all the bears that were regulars.
We had snow, he was easy to follow, I jumped right on it, I had to get a glimpses of him, he'd walked right through my backyard.
He was easy to follow in the snow, you could see he was on a mission, he wasn't lingering or nosing around anything he just kept a steady pace as he headed down river.

It was about 2 1/2 miles from the lodge when he turned and headed right toward the river, the river was wide and shallow there, he knew his way around, that's where he crossed.

I headed back upriver to the lodge, I was thinking of taking a boat and going across to see if I could pick up his tracks again, I knew they were no more than a few hours old.

I was grabbing a few things to take with me when I saw him, he was walking across the face of a low ridge that swept up from the river and climbed toward the summit of the mountain he was on, the morning sun was really making his tracks stand out, they just lit up, he was leaving a hell'ov a trail in the snow.

I grabbed the spotting scope and got set up, It was him alright and he was pretty amazing, the snow on the northern face of that ridge was deep, he was lunging through it. It was a 65 power scope, I could see him pretty well.

He was angling up and heading into a huge draw that ran down the face of the mountain, maybe he was going to circle and come back, I wasn't sure what he might do but whatever it was I was going to be able to see from right where I was at if he didn't cross over the top of the ridge.

I'd wait and see what he decided to do before I'd set off to chase him, I had to know what direction he was going to go before I could make a plan. I got busy with other things but kept a watch on him the sun was still lighting up his trail, it was plain to see without the scope, he was making his way toward the top. After a while he just quit, his trail wasn't advancing I went back to the spotting scope to see what he was up to before I lost light. I really couldn't see him any longer his trail just ended like he'd just vanished.

The next morning it was all the same, the sun was lighting his trail up really well and you could see where he'd quit, he was quite a ways up there and right in the bottom of that northern exposed draw, I could see right into it.
It remained that way for days, that bear had den'ed up right there in that draw, now what'da do?

I could get there, it'd be a bitch, the snow was deep and it was way up there but I could do it.
I was thinking of just heading up there, knocking on his door, waking him up and battling it out with him right there in that draw. It was a true trophy, I know he'd crack 10 ft. it was tempting..

Final decision was, I'd hunt him in the Spring, I'd surly see the sign when he got up and made a move, his den was in plain view everyday when I walked out my door.

He was right there....

Once the ice was off the lake things started changing fast, I mean fast like in the following 24 hours.

A float plane landed the following morning he tied up and came walking over to see me.
It was a outfitter that had bear hunters booked, he had also managed to get a couple of his boats up Lake Aleknagik along the “shore channel”, same as I had the day before.

He'd been doing fly overs and knew the ice had gone off the lake yesterday.

He told me Lake Aleknagik was still frozen over, It's protected by mountains from the eastern winds we were experiencing, the lake I was on and most the upper lakes above me are exposed to the open tundra along their eastern shores.

He had stopped in to make me an offer, he needed his boats brought up the river. He had young guides that were new to the area and he didn't want to chance one of them screwing up a boat on the rocks in the river, we struck a deal. Once his boats were at the top of the river, his guides would have no problem navigating miles of lake above me.

I jumped in his plane and we flew down to the bottom of the river.

He'd left a couple of his guides sitting on a gravel bar there with the boats.
We did our introductions and I took charge, told these guys if one of the would just follow me in one boat and the other ride with me they might learn a little of the river.
The outfitter wouldn't hear of it, he wanted me to make two trips, he wasn't about to trust his guys....shheeez....I shoulda doubled my price right then and there, what a joke, it wasn't that treacherous.

I made the two trips and his guides quickly proceeded on their journey up the lakes. The outfitter hung out for a while....seems he had another problem.

It wasn't just the boats he needed help with, he was short a guide.
Seems he was better at booking than business management, we talked.
I figured it out pretty quick why he was so good a booking, he was one of those low ball in the door, $100 an inch, $1000 a foot guys.

For those that don't know that is, you pay a deeply discounted rate for your hunt, if you fail to kill a bear, you go home without breaking the bank.
If you do get your bear, you pay an additional fee of $100 per inch or $1000 a foot. It all hinges on you getting a 10 ft bear and paying 10K, which was the going rate at the time. Not a bad deal if you can get it really.

He was three days into an eight day with his current guests.
One of his guides had become injured and had to be flown out, that'd left him short handed...so he said...
We came to an understanding of how I might assist him in his dilemma.
I'd let his guests “hangout” at the lodge until he figured something else out.
Yeah, that's it.....

He was back with them before the sunset.

He'd brought food, if that's what you call a couple of boxes of canned chicken, a dozen cans of Spam and a host of other items I'd never use.
There was some fresh bread...that was OK...

My dog ate better than this and she wasn't even a real dog.....even our bears ate better than this.....

Is this the way all Alaskan outfitters feed their guests? Good grief!

I still had a freezer full of lodge meats left along with plenty of Moose, Caribou, Kings, Sockeye I even had frozen wild blueberries, cranberries and a few Salmon berries...

The guests were turning out to be better than the food.
It was two old timers, they were life time SCI guys, OMG did they have the stories to tell.
I outfitted for 16 years and these two men had been on more hunts and fishing trips than I'd ever ran.
They told me of 4 different guided hunts and 11 guided fishing trips they'd joined each other on in just the past year alone....

These guys had done it all, name the continent name any species, they'd BTDT.......

They made for interesting company even my dog listened to them talk.

We decided to take a little boat trip the next morning, just to go look around.
We took the field glasses and spotting scope along so we could see stuff.

We were just in the lake a short ways from the lodge when we decided to stop and take in our surroundings...

Looking over the ridge that was right behind the lodge I saw a little bear cutting across a snow field, I pointed it out. The two old timers started glassing away and talking amongst themselves, the one old guy looked at his watch and then me and said, 30 minutes, not too bad.

The old f'er was timing me on how long it took to see a bear!
I was waiting on him to whip out a log book and start jotting down notes, how long, how many, what size.... Yeah, their SCI guys all the way....

I went back to watching the bear, it was a big snow field, the bear which looked to be last years cub was about in the middle of it when another bear appeared on the edge of the ice field behind it. It looked like mom and she was after the cub...

I set up the spotting scope, got everything all adjusted and took another look.
It wasn't mom and it wasn't a cub, it was a big f'n bear and it was chasing a sow. I immediately looked back across the lake to where my den'ed up bear was at, there were tracks.
I spun the spotting scope to get a better look and sure as hell he was up, and he was back tracking his trail from last fall.

There wasn't just tracks, he'd triggered numerous small slides as he'd made his way off the face of that mountain.
With the events of the last two days I'd quit paying attention, surely I'd have seen the tracks yesterday when we were flying up and down the river moving boats, I think anyway..... too busy chatting with the outfitter/pilot guy maybe? Idunno....

What I did know was my bear of a lifetime was again right in front of me and I was stuck with these two guys that wanted a bear...F-ME......

I told the guys the tale, I pointed out the trail on the other mountain where he'd den'ed at, they were intrigued, I was excited....

I was pointing out possible means of attack, where we could most easily get up on the ridge, hell I'd chainsawed out a trail through the alders last fall so I'd be able to get up there more easily. I was ready for this, sorta, just what I was ready for didn't include the company of these two men or anyone else for that matter.

These guys had taken to the spotting scope and were completely enthralled with watching this big boar chase the sow..For a bit there it looked like we might get to see him mount her. God I wanted to get up there really bad.

I was still spewing off a thousand miles a minute about things we could do and ways we could make this happen, we just had to get up there.

The one guy looked at me and said he and his friend had both shot numerous bears but they'd never watched one get laid. He went on to add that he knew what I was saying but neither of them were going to be capable of making it to that ridge, it was a beautiful sunny day, I should just sit down and enjoy it......

I though the top of my f'in head was gonna blow off.....

I bit my tongue, I sank into my seat, I was dying. These guys didn't give rats azz about hunting that bear, they were totally content just watching him.

My disappointment didn't go unnoticed....

They became apologetic , they told me as far as they were concerned this morning alone constituted a successful Alaskan bear hunt, they saw things they'd never seen, they were happy as two peas in a pod.
The bears mean while had disappeared into some trees, the guys wanted to go back to the lodge for some lunch, they started asking about the fishing in the river................................it was a disaster, how'd I gotten myself into this.

You know I've guided a lot of years, being a guide is much like being a prostitute. You sell yourself, soul and all to people who's path you'd never cross in life if they didn't have thousands of dollars to throw on the table for your services.
You kiss their azzes, be nice and tell them how good they are all in anticipation of a quality tip..
I've done this for the better part of two decades and if I had to count how many guys I've guided that I'd invite on a personal trip of my own on my fingers and toes, I might have to take both gloves off but I sure as hell could leave my boots on.

I'm a whore and I was paying the price for it right now.....

We got back to the lodge and put some lunch together, I was thinking of feeding these guys their flippin' spam..I didn't.

We weren't there long and I heard a boat coming up the river...

I went out to see who it was, there were two Lunds and they were loaded with people, a bunch of small kids and a handful of adults.

It was my hunting and trapping buds from Aleknagik, we hadn't see each other in near two months, they'd come to see if I was OK and they had brought their entire families along for the trip.

This would be spirit lifting and man was their timing spot on, I needed it.

Idunno if many of you guys have ever been around true Native types that actually lived a subsistence life in a traditional manner in a remote village.
When it comes to the trapper types, that actually spend their entire winters hunting and trapping there is one thing that shows.

Their kids have cool winter clothes..

As these guys pulled up to my place their boats looked like two loads of furs with tiny little faces peeking out.
The kids all wore traditional parkas with either Wolf or Wolverine ruffs most made completely of spotted seal. A few had fur mukluks as well.

I think it's a trappers pride to have his kids show off the skills of their trades.
The older types typically wear more conventional winter coats but always with a prime Wolf or Wolverine ruff added on and always a Beaver/Spotted Seal winter hat.
There were four men, three women and 10 kids all packed into those two Lunds.

I stepped out to the beach and greeted them, the kids jumped out of their boats and ran around stretching their legs after being all cooped up on the skiffs. They were having a blast playing with my dog who seemed equally excited to have the company, I think she was comparing furs with the kids.
Some of the kids were theirs, others were just friends of their children that wanted to get out of the village for the day. They were all 12 years old or less.

I had explained what I was up to and turned back to the cabin to see the two old men taking photos, I think they were seeing a site they'd never seen before again.

They weren't going to be able to stay long, it was a touch and go, they had to get home. They'd made their way up Lake Aleknagik via a small channel same as I'd done just a couple days before and for the same reasons, they just needed to get out. They'd brought me food, it was my share from our last venture up the lakes. There was some dried Caribou and Pike and a couple of Frozen Whitefish complete with a jar of Seal oil for dipping.

The kids stayed outside exploring the grounds at the lodge and the adults came in by my wood stove and we brought each other up to speed with current events and happening since we'd last been together. The two old men just sat back and listened.

They were soon gone, back in their Lunds and heading down river, I did a head count to be sure they didn't leave me a damn child to care for, I had enough on my hands to deal with.

The old men and I decided we'd do some late afternoon fishing, of course they'd both done it all before.
I talked of the Rainbows and Grayling as well as Char that were in the river, btdt, btdt then I mentioned Pike, they'd both caught one before but never on a fly...

OK, I got something for them, I whipped out a selection of Pike streamers (think Bass) and some Winston and Lamiglas fly rods and let them take their pick..

I begrudgingly took along the spotting scope and binoculars......

We made our way to one of my favorite Pikey sloughs, with the ice just going off the top water action should be good.

I set one rod up with a deer hair mouse pattern the other with a big flashy streamer with a long crystal chanel tail...

Both their first casts were nothing short of amazing, yeah they could cast fly rods but it was the Pike, it looked like a dozen torpedoes dive bombing those two flies, they hooked up immediately...game on..that kind of action continued for a couple of hours.

These two old “done everything” guys were like little kids catching their first fish, they were more than excited.
We were destroying flies, those Pike are viscous and these fish were hungry, they'd had nothing for top water feeding all winter..

We decided we'd had enough fun and headed back to the lodge for a late dinner, I like Piking, I was feeling better..

From a distance I could see my friends were back, both their Lunds were on my beach...
Sure enough, the ice on Lake Aleknagik had shifted and they were stuck, they'd be spending the night.

So that gave me a total of 19 guests at “my” lodge, I fired up the big generator, opened the main lodge along with our largest bunk house and lit that place up.
We had a radio telephone in the lodge, I got it up and running and the ladies called parents and friends to assure them all the kids were OK but they wouldn't be making it home, not tonight anyway.

The native guys got a good fire burning in the lodge fireplace as I showed the ladies around the kitchen and told them of the options of food we had to work with. They were happy to find all my frozen berries and a bucket of crisco Akutaq would be on the menu the kids would like that, hell I liked that, I think we'd all like that.

I told them to go for it use anything and everything the wanted, there was 20 mouths to feed, they prepared the feast of feasts.
I hadn't had anyone cook for me in a while and I found myself looking at a table filled with cooked Moose and Caribou along with Kings and Sockeye.

It was nothing short of fantastic, nobody went hungry that's for sure.
It was an interesting evening, I sat back and watched.

These two old men were heavily engaged with the Native trapper guys sharing their stories of hunting around the world while the native guys would tell of a few of their hair raising trapping events and different hunts.

The whole time the one old man had a 7 year old bilingual Yup'ik Eskimo kid on his knee that was teaching him how to spell and speak basic Yup'ik words.

Talk about people who's lives would never cross paths......
They all found common ground though hunting, fishing and trapping......

The women finished cleaning up the fallout from our feast and put the kids to bed, I think it was around two in the morning before the story telling had subsided and I was able to shut down the generator and put Wood River lodge to bed.

My Yup'ik friends made their way home the following day, the old men never made it out of the lodge, they were beat from the late night.
The next couple days passed quickly, we did manage to get some more Pike on the fly rods though. I showed them how to tie those Pike flies and they even made a few to take home.

I think they had the Alaskan bear hunting trip they'd been searching for, just something they'd never done before.
I believe they were content and happy.
They left me enough of a tip that they could of paid for that 10 foot bear.

Jeff,

You should do a book. These stories are great!

[quote=BigDave39355]

Your writing is outstanding. I don’t have words to express how impressed I’m am. Your flow and pacing is outstanding.

You should write a book.

Boy that ice is no joke on Aleknagik. I flew in to Dillingham and went up to the ramp and got in a boat. I left all of my stuff in the van and was wearing tennis shoes and Levi. Ranger Johnny said it was open in the middle of the lake so we took off trying to get to Bear Bay and before it was over we ended up against the south west shore in a 20 foot Willie predator squashed against the bank by ice. Rather than crawl several miles through the brush I convinced my partner in crime to pull the boat up on the ice and drag it a half a mile to open water. I wasn’t running the boat but had the wits about myself to get us out of a bad spot. I had been awake for 20 hours and wanted to be dry warm and asleep. the ice when broke up was octagon shaped and a foot or two long and maybe 2 inches in diameter.

Jason and others,

Thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed the little insight these writings might offer of what life in this area can be for some.
I doubt I'd ever pen a book, I'd have to sit in one spot for too long.

You say you can't find the words Jason? Well anyone who has been a member here for nearly 12 years and only made 33 posts and my ramblings draw them out to make their 34th speaks volumes in its self...




Things happen fast and when least expected at times. the following is from a news story I read a few years back..you'll see the relevance......

Two Aleknagik men were rescued by friends just in time last week after spending six harrowing hours out on Aleknagik Lake in the middle of a fierce storm.......................Click for full story

Bruce Ilutsik, 28, and brother Grant Ilutsik, 33, woke in the early hours of Feb. 7 to the sound of their boats banging around in the high velocity winds that affected the majority of southwest and south central Alaska last week. The two brothers rushed out of their home and down to the dock to secure their boats. When they got there, however, they saw that one of the boats had come loose from its fastening and was drifting away out into the lake. The two jumped into another boat and shoved off to go and retrieve the first boat, but the motor failed, leaving the Ilutsik brothers stranded in open water without a working motor. The wind at the time was gusting over 50 mph, and before long, both men were being pushed out toward the center of the lake by large, icy waves created by the strong wind gusts. Allen Ilutsik said they tried to row, but the wind was too strong. Around this time the Aleknagik VPSO Jason Creasey and another villager attempted to rescue the two men using the city's boat but was unsuccessful, as the thick ice and large waves that separated the Ilutsik brothers from their potential rescuers and almost capsized the VPSO's boat. The Alaska State Troopers, who had been notified of the situation, then contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, who subsequently launched a rescue helicopter out of Cold Bay.
Allen Ilutsik said when he and others heard the Coast Guard response was still several hours out, they organized a group to go and get his brothers. By that time, Bruce and Grant had been out in the cold with minimal outdoor gear on for six hours. Some members of the group were part of the community's first responder team and said despite the fact that authorities were suggesting they wait for the Coast Guard response, they needed to move quickly because of the danger of hypothermia.
"When we found out how long it was going to be, we decided they couldn't wait," Allen Ilutsik said. Ilutsik said several members of the group were longtime outdoorsmen and knew how to read the ice conditions on the lake. They drove around to the side of the lake closest to the boat and a group of eight — Ilutsik, Aaron Andrews, Randy Tinker, Ben Tinker, Patrick Aloysius Jr, Robert Christensen, Danny Togiak and Robin Chythlook began moving across the solid ice. Initially, they thought they could use some rescue equipment but the wind was too strong to throw a rope to the brothers. So Ben Tinker and Aloysius, Jr. got in a 10-foot skiff - the very skiff the brothers were trying to rescue initially, which had since been used by Creasey to get back to shore - and the group pushed it out over the ice to where the solid ice became broken. Then Ben Tinker and Aloysius, Jr. got in the small skiff and worked their way through the ice cakes until they got to the Ilutsik brothers. The stranded men got in the small skiff and the four of them slowly worked their way back to the solid ice edge, he said.

Ilutsik said his brothers had dashed out of the house in minimal gear - one had on tennis shoes and no socks, another rubber boots and no socks. Only one was wearing a winter jacket, and both were wet and cold and said they had been starting to get sleepy.
"It sounds like they were just going into the second stage of hypothermia," Ilutsik said.
Both were transported to the Dillingham Hospital for evaluation and treatment, but were amazingly fine even after spending some six hours in the chilling weather.
Ilutsik said the rescuers wish the community's rescue squad had been notified — it would have resulted in a quicker response if they had.
"The outdoorsmen up here are really knowledgeable about ice conditions and that sort of thing," he said.


Ben Tinker always led our winter journeys up the lakes...Don't surprise me at all to keep seeing his name pop up in instances like these over the years. This one is far from the only rescue he has been involved in around the area.

He knew how to pull a bright chrome Sockeye outta the lake in February too!




Before they got the Wood River bridge built just a few short years ago, a whole lot of death was going on every winter crossing on the ice.